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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to the field of fishing. More particularly, the present invention is directed to devices for holding and threading of fishing-hooks.
2. Background of the Invention
Presently, the potential danger from handling of fishing-hooks is well known to fish-hook users. Generally, fishing-hooks have a barb portion at where the bait is often optimally placed. The barb portions also have sharpened outwardly pointed edges for the purpose of engaging the prey. Once the prey has swallowed the bait, these sharpened portions pierce and tear into the prey""s mouth and engage the tissue therein, thus reducing the chance of the prey""s escape prior to its capture.
While the barb""s sharpened edges have proven effective in their intended role of piercing and tearing into the prey""s tissue in order to engage the prey, they have also been the source of inadvertent injury to the users of fishing-hooks. In many instances, the barb""s sharpened edges have torn into the flesh of the user""s fingers and hand while being held. This problem specifically widespread when the user is trying to hold the fishing-hook in a steady position with one hand while attempting to thread the eye of the hook with the other hand.
Currently, many devices exist to minimize the threat of injury to the users. These devices, however suffer from several shortcomings. First, most such devices are constructed of several moving parts and other gadgets, making them difficult to hold or use. Second, these devices generally were built with the intention of merely providing storage or a carrying case for the hook and not as a threading facilitator. They thus do not adequately hold the hook in position, allowing for the hook to move or rattle within the device and making it difficult for a user to thread the eye. Third, these devices are often cumbersome to use when it comes to the insertion and retrieval of the fishing hook, often causing injuries to the user in the process. Fourth, most such devices are limited a single fishing-hook of a specific size, thus requiring the user to utilize a number of such devices in order to accommodate fishing hooks of different sizes.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device that would readily receive a fishing-hook and fixedly engage the hook in a snug surrounding so that the movement of the hook is minimized.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a device that is readily capable of receiving fishing-hooks of different sizes and shapes, thus minimizing the need to utilize more than once such device.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method for facilitating the threading of a fishing hook.
These and other objects are achieved by the various apparatus and associated method of the present invention. In a broad aspect, the present invention provides a fishing-hook holder and threading device to hold and restrict the movement of a fishing-hook during threading. In a first exemplary embodiment, the present invention includes a clam-shell housing for a fishing-hook, the housing having a pair of opposing first and second surfaces, with the first opposing surface in a first block and the second opposing surface in a second block. The first embodiment further includes that at least one aperture formed at a periphery of at least one of the opposing surfaces and at least one hook-receiving channel to receive and fixedly engage the fishing hook, the channel being etched into the same opposing surface as the aperture and substantially shaped in form of the fishing-hook, with channel connected at one end to said aperture and extending thereof inwardly along said etched surface. In a second exemplary embodiment, the present invention is an apparatus to hold and restrict the movement of fishing-hooks of varying sizes during threading. The invention includes a clam-shell housing for a plurality of fishing hooks, the housing having a pair of opposing first and second blocks, a pair of opposing first and second surfaces, with the first opposing surface in the first block and the second non-opposing surface in the second block. The second embodiment further includes at least one aperture formed at a periphery of each of the opposing surfaces, and at least one hook-receiving channel etched in each of the opposing surfaces in the substantial shape of a fishing-hook, the channel connected at one end to the aperture in the corresponding block and extending thereof inwardly along the etched surface wherein the channel receives and fixedly engages the fishing hook.
In yet a third exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a method for holding and facilitating the threading of at least one fishing-hook having an eye. The method includes securing the fishing-hook in at least one hook-receiving channel of a clam-shell housing wherein the eye remaining external to the housing and then threading the eye of the fishing-hook.
The aforementioned summary descriptions were intended to only provide an overview of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention. A more detailed understanding of these features, and of additional features, objects, and advantages of the present invention will be provided to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following Detailed Description of the Invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings, which will now first be described briefly.